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The interline power flow controller (IPFC) can control the active power and reactive power of different lines in power system. To utilize the flexible control ability of IPFC and increase the damping characteristic of its controller AC system, this paper proposes a low-frequency oscillation (LFO) suppress method through IPFC. The LFO suppress method is designed by adding supplementary signals to the outer current control loop of IPFC. In addition to adding supplementary active power signals, the reactive supplementary signals are also added to related control loop, which is the total control scheme. To obtain the power system’s small signal model, the identification technology based on the PRONY algorithm is used. In addition, the robust control theory is also applied to make the controllers more adaptive. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, two controllers including both the active and reactive controllers are designed for in PSCAD software. Furthermore, the simulation results prove the proposed method can reach a better control effect and is also of robustness.

To accommodate three typical 5G services with satisfied performance requirements, spectrum slicing has been adopted and widely studied in the wireless transmission part. For the wired transmission part, the high-capacity and large-scale optical network is widely used for transferring 5G traffics. To improve the spectrum efficiency and reduce the time delay while accommodating 5G services, optical networks need to adapt to the wireless spectrum slicing. Traditionally, all spectrum resources in optical networks form a resource pool which is equally allocated to applications bit by bit until it is all used up. Although this pattern reduces the resource maintenance complexity, it has a high operation complexity for 5G services. If some important network functions are realized in advance, a 5G service can be easily deployed with simplified operations and satisfied performance requirements. In this letter, a novel framework of core function prepositioning is proposed to efficiently accommodate 5G services in optical networks. It adopts the centralized control model and two network functions of fast connection establishment and disaster-resilient survivability are realized in planned spectrum areas in advance. This framework adapts to the wireless spectrum slicing and has a significant performance boost while accommodating 5G services.

This study uses a content analysis method to systematically review 83 research papers from 2002-2018 to explore consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce research trends. The findings of this study indicate that (1) C2C e-commerce is discussed and investigated in many disciplines, but mainly published in e-commerce journals; (2) studies on C2C e-commerce increasingly focus on diverse topics, but concentrate on regions such as China and the United States; (3) the focus of academic collaboration has shifted from domestic to international collaboration, and collaboration within the same institution. However, collaboration is scarce across different study teams; (4) the data-driven approach is the main approach used in studies on C2C e-commerce; (5) while the number of recent C2C e-commerce studies adopted theories is increasing, few have developed theoretical frameworks or models. Finally, study implications and future study suggestions are also discussed.

Although reports suggest Chinese herbal medicine treatment of ovarian cancer (OC) has a good effect, the role of isorhamnetin (ISO), a flavonol aglycone with immune, anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular protective effects, as well as an anticancer effect, in OC remains unclear. Network pharmacology was used to explore thisThe common targets of ISO in the treatment of OC were screened by constructing drug targets and disease gene databases for Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. The protein-protein interaction network was constructed by STRING. Overlapping targets were further analyzed using the online tool UALCAN to analyze the correlation between gene expression and patient survival and prognosis. The effect of ISO on OC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion was assessedThrough network pharmacology analysis, 25 target genes related to ISO-OC were screened out. The overall survival rate of OC patients only significantly correlated with high expression ofWe confirmed that ISO inhibits OC cell proliferation, migration and invasion by targeting

Background: A novel CT-linac (kilovolt fan-beam CT-linac) has been introduced into total marrow and lymphoid irradiation (TMLI) treatment. Its integrated kilovolt fan-beam CT scanner enables accurate evaluation of the dose distribution difference between plan and delivery, which is crucial for the TMLI treatment improvement for the future. Purpose: This study evaluated the technical feasibility of kilovolt fan-beam CT-linacfor TMLI treatment and investigated the true dose distribution of the delivery. Methods: 11 sets of data from 5 male and 6 female patients who had underwent the TMLI treatment with uRT-linac 506c were selected for this study. The planning target volumes consist of all skeletal bones exclusion of the mandible and lymphatic sanctuary sites. A planned dose of 10Gy was prescribed to all skeletal bones exclusion of the mandible in two fractions and 12Gy in two fractions was prescribed to lymphatic sanctuary sites. Each TMLI plan contained two sub-plans, one dynamic IMRT for the upper body and the other VMAT for the lower extremity. Two attempts were made to obtain homogeneous dose in the overlapping region, i.e., applying two plans with different isocenters for the treatment of two fractions, and using a dose gradient matching scheme. The CT scans, including planning CT and fan-beam CT (obtained during image-guided radiation therapy) were stitched to a whole body CT scan for dose distribution evaluation. Results: Firstly, the kilovolt fan-beam CT-linac can provide the adequate target dose coverage (90% for planning and delivery) and critical organ sparing that satisfied the clinical requirements. Secondly, the beam-on time of kilovolt fan-beam CT-linac is apparently shorter than helical tomotherapy for the TMLI treatment. Thirdly, there exists the dose distribution difference of PTVs between plan and delivery (p0.05) between the dose distribution of the plan and delivery for most organs at risk, except for right len. Fourthly, for the treatment delivery, applying two plans with different isocenters for one patient in two fractions performed better than employing only one plan for one patient in two fractions on PTV coverage for PTVbone, maximum dose for small bowel, heart, and liver. Conclusion: This radiation therapy treatment planning has proved to be effective. This research first exhibited that the dose difference between planning and delivery was evaluated, which is important for treatment evaluation and plan improvement for the future studies.

For shale gas wells, in the initial production stage, the liquid production is large, and the lifting process is needed to assist the drainage. However, for gas wells, especially shale gas wells, the ultimate purpose is different from that of oil wells, and the current design method of pumping depth cannot meet the field requirements. Starting from the production characteristics of liquid-producing gas wells, this paper analyzed the gas well productivity, wellbore pressure distribution and critical liquid-carrying flow, and adopted the node analysis method to propose a design method for the pumping depth of shale gas wells during drainage and gas recovery. Then, the proposed method was applied to optimize the design of the jet pump of well A in Block JY, according to the design results, the pump was started for production; after the wellbore liquid level was raised to the designed depth, the gas well can conduct annulus space liquid-carrying production, and the production effect of well A showed that, the proposed method can be applied as a method for optimizing the technological parameters of shale gas wells.

The urachal carcinoma (UrC) was a rare type of malignant tumors. It accounted for 0.5% ∼ 2.0% of all bladder cancers and an estimated 0.01% of all adult cancers. We herein presented one case of a young 35-year-old male, complaining of intermittent hematuria and subabdominal pain. Abdominal computed topographic scan revealed a significant soft tissue mass with 4.7 cm longer axis localized on the anterior bladder wall, invading the anterior abdominal wall. A laparoscopic partial cystectomy was performed with resection of the entire mass up to the umbilical area with pelvic lymph node dissection. The postoperative pathology revealed urachal mucinous adenocarcinoma with stage IIIc in Sheldon system. Six cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy with FOLFIRINOX and radiotherapy of which the target volume including tumor bed and regional lymph drainage were conducted, the patient achieved progression free survival of 21 months after surgery with failure of extensive implantation metastases in abdominal and pelvic cavity. Subsequent hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy and systemic therapy including targeted therapy and immune-checkpoint inhibitor therapy were scheduled for subsequent therapy. Those metastases were probably due to the implantation of cancer cells during surgery and our treatments including adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy could stand a chance to achieve improvement of local control and increase of progression free survival. The aim of the present case report was to help understand the presentation and management of this tumor and reflect the necessity of adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy for the treatment of advanced patient of UrC.

The digital elevation model (DEM) is an important basic data tool applied in geoscience applications. Because of its high cost and long development cycle of enhancing hardware performance, designing the related models and algorithms to improve the resolution of DEM is of considerable significance. At present, there is little research on DEM super-resolution based on deep learning, and the results of the reconstructed DEMs obtained by existing methods are inaccurate. Therefore, deepening of the network layers is utilized to improve the accuracy of a reconstructed DEM. This paper designs a neutral network model with 30 convolutional layers to learn the feature mapping relationship between a low- and high-resolution DEM. To avoid the problem of network degradation caused by increasing the number of convolutional layers, residual learning is introduced to accelerate the convergence speed of the model, thereby preferably realizing the DEM super-resolution process. The results show that DEM super-resolution based on a deep residual network is better than that obtained using a neural network with fewer convolutional layers, and the reconstructed result of the DEM based on a deep residual network is remarkably improved in terms of the peak signal to noise ratio and visual effect.

The aim of this study was to generate a local confidence limit (CL) for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) techniques for Clinac IX linear accelerator using the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group (TG119) protocol. The results were compared with the published studies to test the capability and quality of the VMAT technique in our clinic. We used TG119 cases to create plans for IMRT and VMAT in Eclipse Treatment Planning System for Clinac IX using 6 MV and 10 MV photons. Two preliminary and 5 clinical test cases were created based on the dose prescriptions and planning objectives provided by TG119. Verification plans were created in a planning slab phantom, 2D matrix dosimetry system (MatriXX) with multicube phantom and a volumetric phantom (Delta4). Radiation absorption doses to high-dose points in the planning target volume region and low-dose points in avoidance structures were measured with a 0.125 cc semiflex thimble ionization chamber (PTW). The measured and planned doses were normalized with respect to their prescription doses and intercompared with each other. The gamma analysis was carried out for MatriXX and Delta4 adopting the acceptance criteria of 3% dose difference and 3 mm distance to agreement with 10% threshold dose, respectively. The local CLs with the bench mark set by TG119 were obtained for point, composite planar and field-by-field measurements for IMRT and VMAT with different energies. In this study, the CLs for the high-dose regions of IMRT with 6 MV and 10 MV were 0.025 and 0.014, respectively. For VMAT, they were 0.032 and 0.018. The counterpart CL was 0.045 in TG119. And in organs at risk region, the CLs of IMRT with 6 MV and 10 MV beam were 0.022 and 0.019, respectively, with the counterpart CL indicated by TG119 was 0.047. For VMAT with 6 MV and 10 MV photon beams, the CLs were measured 0.030 and 0.027 with Delta4, respectively. The CLs of the maximum gamma passing for all values were 2.0 in 6 MV VMAT plan, which however recommended in TG119 was 12.4. The data presented here showed all the CLs in our clinic meet the criteria of TG119 report well. All these local CLs reached the goals mentioned in AAPM TG119, which indicated that the local clinic had commissioned IMRT and VMAT techniques with adequate accuracy. Prior to the clinical application practice, it is essential to verify with the TG119 test cases for IMRT and VMAT, which allows us to better understand the basic capability of VMAT technology.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are covalently closed non-coding RNAs that play pivotal roles in various biological processes. However, circRNAs’ roles in different tissues of apple are currently unknown. A total of 6495 unique circRNAs were identified from roots, phloem, leaves, flowers and fruits; 65.99% of them were intergenic circRNAs. Similar to other plants, tissue-specific expression was also observed for apple circRNAs; only 175 (2.69%) circRNAs were prevalently expressed in all five different tissues, while 1256, 1064, 912, 904 and 1080 circRNAs were expressed only in roots, phloem, leaves, flowers and fruit, respectively. The hosting-genes of circRNAs showed significant differences enriched in COG, GO terms or KEGG pathways in five tissues, suggesting the special functions of circRNAs in different tissues. Potential binding interactions between circRNAs and miRNAs were investigated using TargetFinder; 2989 interactions between 647 circRNAs and 192 miRNA were predicated in the present study. It also predicted that Chr00:18744403|18744580-mdm-miR160 might play an important role in the formation of flowers or in regulating the coloration of flowers, Chr10:6857496|6858910–mdm-miR168 might be involved in response to drought stress in roots, and Chr03:1226434|1277176 may absorb mdm-miR482a-3p and play a major role in disease resistance. Two circRNAs were experimentally analyzed by qRT-PCR with divergent primers, the expression levels were consistent with RNA-seq, which indicates that the RNA-seq datasets were reliable.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of CO

Economic development and community revitalization can benefit from youth entrepreneurship; however, insufficient guidance for youths may weaken this beneficial effect. The Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China organized entrepreneurship events in China’s tertiary education institutes. With the aim of helping youths at university to clearly perceive social–entrepreneurship value and steadily form moral business motives, events were guided by the core of the Red Boat Spirit (RBS) and through the specific program Youth Red Dream Building Journey (YRDBJ). Youths have been part of the nation’s evolution via their contributions to various fields, including initiatives to improve the appearance of the countryside; modern innovations in agriculture; providing health and medicine supplies to alleviate poverty; and the cultural spread of RBS. Ten million university students have joined the program since 2017. Incorporating RBS and Social Entrepreneurship Education (SEE) into the special Ideological and Political Education (IPE) in China’s tertiary education, the program, YRDBJ, significantly influenced the Chinese youth in terms of social entrepreneurship at university. With this analytical approach, this study employed Marxist theories to analyze the relevant theoretical literature on entrepreneurship in order to discover the mechanism underlying the success of the program. This paper reveals the theoretical framework of YRDBJ and analyzes the factors that favorably formed the framework; moreover, it also proposes a new conceptual model bound with YRDBJ, which enriches the theoretical development of IPE and SEE. This paper also notes the limitations of YRDBJ and subjects it to scrutiny; then, we provide new ideas to improve the relationship between SEE and YRDBJ.

The breeding of salt-tolerant rootstock relies heavily on the availability of salt-tolerant Malus germplasm resources. The first step in developing salt-tolerant resources is to learn their molecular and metabolic underpinnings. Hydroponic seedlings of both ZM-4 (salt-tolerant resource) and M9T337 (salt-sensitive rootstock) were treated with a solution of 75 mM salinity. ZM-4’s fresh weight increased, then decreased, and then increased again after being treated with NaCl, whereas M9T337′s fresh weight continued to decrease. The results of transcriptome and metabolome after 0 h (CK) and 24 h of NaCl treatment showed that the leaves of ZM-4 had a higher content of flavonoids (phloretinm, naringenin-7-O-glucoside, kaempferol-3-O-galactoside, epiafzelechin, etc.) and the genes (CHI, CYP, FLS, LAR, and ANR) related to the flavonoid synthesis pathway showed up-regulation, suggesting a high antioxidant capacity. In addition to the high polyphenol content (L-phenylalanine, 5-O-p-coumaroyl quinic acid) and the high related gene expression (4CLL9 and SAT), the roots of ZM-4 exhibited a high osmotic adjustment ability. Under normal growing conditions, the roots of ZM-4 contained a higher content of some amino acids (L-proline, tran-4-hydroxy-L-prolin, L-glutamine, etc.) and sugars (D−fructose 6−phosphate, D−glucose 6−phosphate, etc.), and the genes (GLT1, BAM7, INV1, etc.) related to these two pathways were highly expressed. Furthermore, some amino acids (S-(methyl) glutathione, N-methyl-trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline, etc.) and sugars (D-sucrose, maltotriose, etc.) increased and genes (ALD1, BCAT1, AMY1.1, etc.) related to the pathways showed up-regulation under salt stress. This research provided theoretical support for the application of breeding salt-tolerant rootstocks by elucidating the molecular and metabolic mechanisms of salt tolerance during the early stages of salt treatment for ZM-4.

Purpose The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for pulmonary lesions in oligometastatic non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, to explore prognostic factors of progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), to validate improved survival contributed by SBRT in oligometastatic NSCLC patients. Patients and methods A total of 71 oligometastatic NSCLC patients with 86 pulmonary lesions treated with SBRT in our institute between 2012 and 2018 were included. Local control (LC), progression‐free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were calculated using Kaplan‐Meier method. Prognostic factors of PFS and OS were analyzed using univariate and multivariate Cox analyses. Subgroup analyses were performed to investigate the impact of SBRT on PFS and OS during first line systemic treatment. Results After a median follow‐up of 17.6 months, 2‐year LC and OS rates were 82.6% and 55.3%, respectively. No grade 4 or more toxicities were observed. Multivariate analysis showed systemic treatment regimen before SBRT was an independent prognostic factor of PFS, but not for OS. Among this cohort, patients receiving first line target therapy could show a better PFS and OS than those undergoing first line chemotherapy (target therapy vs chemotherapy, PFS, 26.4 m vs 6.9 m; OS, 34.8 m vs 15.5 m). Conclusions SBRT for pulmonary lesions was a feasible and tolerable option for oligometastatic NSCLC patients. Delivery of SBRT for pulmonary lesions improved outcomes of oligometastatic NSCLC patients. Finally, SBRT combined with first line target therapy might have optimal outcomes.

A complete and accurate genome sequence provides a fundamental tool for functional genomics and DNA-informed breeding. Here, we assemble a high-quality genome (contig N50 of 6.99 Mb) of the apple anther-derived homozygous line HFTH1, including 22 telomere sequences, using a combination of PacBio single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing, chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) sequencing, and optical mapping. In comparison to the Golden Delicious reference genome, we identify 18,047 deletions, 12,101 insertions and 14 large inversions. We reveal that these extensive genomic variations are largely attributable to activity of transposable elements. Interestingly, we find that a long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon insertion upstream of MdMYB1, a core transcriptional activator of anthocyanin biosynthesis, is associated with red-skinned phenotype. This finding provides insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying red fruit coloration, and highlights the utility of this high-quality genome assembly in deciphering agriculturally important trait in apple., Existing apple genome assemblies all derive from Golden Delicious. Here, the authors combine different sequencing technologies to assemble a high quality genome of an anther-derived homozygous genotype HFTH1 and find the association of a retrotransposon and red fruit colour.

Ferulic acid, the most common phenolic acid in plants, is widely used industrially because of its chemical and biological activities. Few studies, however, have examined its mode of action on postharvest diseases caused by Botrytis cinerea. In this study, we therefore investigated the activity and efficacy of ferulic acid treatment on gray mold of apple fruit. ‘Pink Lady’ apple fruits were soaked in 0.80 g l−1 ferulic acid solution for 20 min, incubated for 12 h, and inoculated with 20 μl of a B. cinerea conidial suspension. Distilled water was used instead of ferulic acid as a control. Samples were collected regularly, with the incidence and diameters of lesions surrounding each wound site measured and recorded at the same time. Compared with the control, ferulic acid treatment was found to significantly increase activities of enzymes in the phenylpropanoid pathway (p

Purpose: Radiotherapy-related caries is a complication of radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma; however, factors influencing the occurrence, accurate prediction of onset, and protective factors of radiotherapy-related caries remain unclear. This study analyzed risk factors, disease predictors, and protective factors for radiotherapy-related caries in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods and Materials: This prospective study included 138 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients receiving radical radiotherapy at our hospital during June 2012-December 2016 and were followed up for dental caries. Patients’ clinical data on radiotherapy were collected, dynamic monitoring was performed to assess changes in oral pH values, and a questionnaire survey was administered to collect patients’ lifestyle habits. Time-dependent cox regression tress, event-free Kaplan-Meier curve, Mann-Whitely U test were used to analysis the results.Results: The median follow-up time was 30 (12-60) months. Radiotherapy-related caries occurred in 28 cases (20.3%). Univariate analyses showed that radiotherapy-related caries was associated with patient’s age, oral saliva pH value, green tea consumption, and radiation dose to sublingual glands, but not with the radiation dose to the parotid and submandibular glands. Multivariate analysis showed that oral saliva pH value (hazard ratio [HR]=0.390, 95% confidence interval=0.204-0.746) was an independent prognostic factor for radiotherapy-related caries. Patients with oral saliva pH values ≤5.3 in the 9th month after radiotherapy a significantly higher risks for radiotherapy-related caries (HR=33.68, pConclusions: Green tea consumption was associated with the occurrence of radiotherapy-related caries, and oral saliva pH values could predict the occurrence of radiotherapy-related caries. Limiting radiation doses to sublingual glands can reduce the occurrence of radiotherapy-related caries.

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to investigate accuracy of the United Imaging Healthcare's uRT treatment planning system (uRT-TPS), by creating AAPM TG 119 test plans with respectively IMRT and VMAT techniques by homogeneous and heterogeneous phantom. Materials and MethodsThe plans were delivered to the homogeneous and heterogeneous phantom using the United Imaging Healthcare's uRT-Linac 506C. The overall dose calculation accuracy by uRT-TPS with Collapsed Cone Convolution (CC) and Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm was measured and analyzed by creating IMRT and VMAT plans for the 5 test geometries specified in TG 119, by using two kinds of beams FF photon beam and FFF photon beam. The point doses were measured with a Farmer type ion chamber and the fluences were measured with films respectively. Results The result of position accuracy was shown that the worst position accuracy is 0.36 mm and the repeated positioning accuracy of MLC field location was less than 0.25mm. The symmetry deviation of MLC was less than 0.08mm. In this study, the CLs of sMLC, dMLC and VMAT plans with FF photon beams were 2.74%, 2.12%, and 1.36% respectively. As for FFF photon beams, they were 3.76%, 2.14% and 2.90% respectively, whereas the counterpart CL specified in TG119 were 4.5% for the high dose regions and 4.7% for OAR regions. The CLs of Gamma Passing rates for sMLC, dMLC and VMAT plans were 4.59%, 5.35% and 2.15% for FF beam mode, and were 1.82%, 6.12% and 4.82% for FFF beam mode. For the heterogeneous phantom, the maximum deviation is 2.35% for CC and 2.63% for MC algorithm respectively.Conclusion Based on this analysis which were performed in accordance with the TG 119 recommendations, it is evident that the URT treatment planning system and URT-Linac 506C have commissioned IMRT and VMAT techniques with adequate accuracy. and all uRT_TPS treatment plans were recognized as clinically acceptable.

LncRNAs impart crucial effects on various biological processes, including biotic stress responses, abiotic stress responses, fertility and development. The apple tree is one of the four major fruit trees in the world. However, lncRNAs’s roles in different tissues of apple are unknown. We identified the lncRNAs in five tissues of apples including the roots, phloem, leaves, flowers, and fruit, and predicted the intricate regulatory networks. A total of 9440 lncRNAs were obtained. LncRNA target prediction revealed 10,628 potential lncRNA–messenger RNA (mRNA) pairs, 9410 pairs functioning in a cis-acting fashion, and 1218 acting in a trans-acting fashion. Functional enrichment analysis showed that the targets were significantly enriched in molecular functions related to photosynthesis-antenna proteins, single-organism metabolic process and glutathione metabolism. Additionally, a total of 88 lncRNAs have various functions related to microRNAs (miRNAs) as miRNA precursors. Interactions between lncRNAs and miRNAs were predicted, 1341 possible interrelations between 187 mdm-miRNAs and 174 lncRNAs (1.84%) were identified. MSTRG.121644.5, MSTRG.121644.8, MSTRG.2929.2, MSTRG.3953.2, MSTRG.63448.2, MSTRG.9870.2, and MSTRG.9870.3 could participate in the functions in roots as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). MSTRG.11457.2, MSTRG.138614.2, and MSTRG.60895.2 could adopt special functions in the fruit by working with miRNAs. A further analysis showed that different tissues formed special lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA networks. MSTRG.60895.2–mdm-miR393–MD17G1009000 may participate in the anthocyanin metabolism in the fruit. These findings provide a comprehensive view of potential functions for lncRNAs, corresponding target genes, and related lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA networks, which will increase our knowledge of the underlying development mechanism in apple.

The volume change and concurrent stress evolution of electrode materials during the cycling of lithium-ion batteries can cause severe mechanical issues such as the fracture of active materials and electrodes, thus leading to safety issues and capacity fading. Recent years have witnessed a thriving interest to gain a complete understanding of battery electrode materials from the viewpoint of mechanics. This review paper aims at discussing battery electrode materials from a mechanical perspective to provide an overview of the recent innovative efforts in this field. On the one hand, we introduce the mechanical issues of active materials and electrodes in the electrochemical processes, along with a focus on the strategies developed for enhancing the mechanical strength of electrode materials and constructing mechanically robust electrodes. On the other hand, experimental and theoretical studies on the stress-regulated effects on electrochemical processes are discussed to demonstrate the intriguing role of mechanical stress as an enabler in electrochemistry. We also give an outlook on the promising research topics for understanding the material mechanical issues, reinforcing electrode materials and improving battery performance.

It demonstrates a flexible optical network enabled “Network Restructuring as Traffic Changes” for 5G/B5G backhaul network, which realizes proactive cross-layer network generation and mitigation-based network recovery, powered by cognitive enhancement and decision deduction.

A framework of centralized control and core function prepositioning is proposed. The functions of fast connection establishment, disaster-resilient survivability, etc., are deployed in advance. This framework supports the point-to-point service slicing in 5G era. © 2020 The Author(s)

In this study, we assessed the main phenolic compounds in leaves of 90 pear germplasm resources, including 26 accessions of P. bretschneideri, 24 accessions of P. pyrifolia, 40 accessions of P. ussuriensis to determine the diversity of phenolic compounds among these pear species and to analyse the relationships among the contents and profiles of phenolic compounds. The average contents of total phenolic compounds of different pear species in leaves were in the range of 17.02–21.11 mg/g. Arbutin was detected as major phenolic compound in the leaves which contributed almost 32.3% of the total amount of phenol compounds in the assayed samples, and about 86.7% of the varieties had highest arbutin content than other individual phenolic compounds. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that P. bretschneideri and P. pyrifolia accessions were not noticeably discriminated with each other based on their phenolic content and profile, while P. ussuriensis accessions were markedly distinguished mostly according to the second principal component variation, and also wild P. ussuriensis and cultivated P. ussuriensis accessions showed obvious discriminating between each other. The specific organization of the pear species based on the accumulation of secondary metabolites showed a high consistency with the phylogenetic organization known. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) showed that the phenolic composition in leaves resolved variation in difference pear species from China, and the variation was mainly attributed to four compounds. This study provides new insights into phenolic diversity of pear germplasm resources.

The unexpected growth of cloud services lead to a dramatic increase in the network capital expenditure (CAPEX) and latency in geographically distributed inter-datacenter networks. In this paper, an adaptability analysis is proposed on CAPEX and forwarding delay for IP switching and optical transport network (OTN) switching in distributed inter-datacenter networks. By abstracting the switching behavior of the IP routers and OTN equipment, the IP nodes, and OTN nodes are mapped to the switching matrix of CLOS switching network. A unified network-level connection model is established based on CLOS switching network to meet the needs of connectivity. Then, the hardware costs and the forwarding delay are evaluated to find out the bandwidth threshold (BDT) which decides the most suitable switching mode for a specific switching granularity. The adaptability of IP switching and OTN switching under different switching granularities and port rates is performed based on the simulation platform in terms of hardware cost, optical port cost, and forwarding delay. Simulation results show that the BDT based on hardware cost is 280 Mbps when switching granularity is 1.25 Gb/s. For 2.5 Gb/s switching granularity, when average bandwidth between multiple datacenters is higher than 600 Mbps, OTN switching has more advantages than IP switching on capital expenditure, especially when port rate of the equipment is high. In addition, the simulation results also verify that the forwarding delay is reduced obviously with OTN switching.

X-ray grating interferometry can provide substantially increased contrast over traditional attenuation-based techniques in biomedical applications, and therefore novel and complementary information. Recently, special attention has been paid to quantitative phase retrieval in X-ray grating interferometry, which is mandatory to perform phase tomography, to achieve material identification, etc. An innovative approach, dubbed “Reverse Projection” (RP), has been developed for quantitative phase retrieval. The RP method abandons grating scanning completely, and is thus advantageous in terms of higher efficiency and reduced radiation damage. Therefore, it is expected that this novel method would find its potential in preclinical and clinical implementations. Strictly speaking, the reverse projection method is applicable for objects exhibiting only absorption and refraction. In this contribution, we discuss the phase retrieval with the reverse projection method for general objects with absorption, refraction and scattering simultaneously. Especially, we investigate the influence of the object's scattering on the retrieved refraction signal. Both theoretical analysis and numerical experiments are performed. The results show that the retrieved refraction signal is the product of object's refraction and scattering signals for small values. In the case of a strong scattering, the reverse projection method cannot provide reliable phase retrieval. Those presented results will guide the use of the reverse projection method for future practical applications, and help to explain some possible artifacts in the retrieved images and/or reconstructed slices.

To clarify the variation and characteristics of polyphenolic compounds in Malus germplasm, and also to provide a theoretical basis for the application of apple landraces in China, polyphenolic compounds and concentrations were analysed in 103 Malus accessions from China using ultra performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The apple landraces of North China, which should have undergone more artificial selection than those of Northwest China and Northeast China, are used as table fruit, or as parents for breeding table varieties with high polyphenolic concentrations from. Wild species have been appropriated as parents for historical hybridisation of new genetic resources with high polyphenolic concentrations. The apple landraces ‘Bandayulenggunzi #1’ and ‘Duanzhigunzi’ possess the greatest concentrations of total polyphenols detected, and so could be used as table fruit by consumers directly, or as parents for breeding varieties with high polyphenolic concentrat...

Apple sugar and acid are the most important traits of apple fruit. Bud sport cultivars can provide abundant research materials for functional gene studies in apple. In this study, using bud sport materials with a rather different sugar and acid flavor, i.e., &ldquo, Jonathan&rdquo, and &ldquo, Sweet Jonathan&rdquo, we profiled the whole genome variations and transcriptional regulatory network during fruit developmental stages using whole genome sequencing and RNA-sequencing. Variation analysis identified 4,198,955 SNPs, 319,494 InDels, and 32,434 SVs between the two cultivars. In total, 4313 differentially expressed genes among all of the d 44,399 genes expressed were identified between the two cultivars during fruit development, and functional analysis revealed stress response and signal transduction related genes were enriched. Using 24,047 genes with a more variable expression value, we constructed 28 co-expression modules by weighted correlation network analysis. Deciphering of 14 co-expression modules associated with sugar or acid accumulation during fruit development revealed the hub genes associated with sugar and acid metabolism, e.g., MdDSP4, MdINVE, and MdSTP7. Furthermore, exploration of the intra network of the co-expression module indicated the close relationship between sugar and acid metabolism or sugar and stress. Motif-based sequence analysis of the 17 differentially expressed ATP-binding cassette transporter genes and Yeast one-hybrid assay identified and confirmed a transcription factor, MdBPC6, regulating the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes and potentially participating in the apple fruit development or stress response. Collectively, all of the results demonstrated the use of parallel bud mutation sequencing and identified hub genes, and inferred regulatory relationships providing new information about apple fruit sugar and acid accumulation or stress response.

In optical transport networks, orchestrating concurrent services may consume extra O/E ports for optical-electric conversion, and thus will introduce excessive cost. We first demonstrate an image processing based reinforcement-learning algorithm for concurrent service orchestration in multi-modal optical networks, and simulation results show it can improve cost-efficiency by saving provisioned O/E ports.

Background To quantify the dosimetric parameters of different bone marrow sparing strategies and to determine the optimal strategy for cervical cancer patients undergoing postoperative intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Methods Fifteen patients with cervical cancer were selected for analysis. The planning target volume (PTV) and the organs at risks (OAR) including small bowel, bladder, rectum, femoral heads, os coxae (OC), lumbosacral spine (LS) and bone marrow (BM) were contoured. For each patient, four IMRT plans with different strategies were generated, including one plan without BM as the dose-volume constraint, namely IMRT (N) plan, and three bone marrow sparing (BMS-IMRT) plans. The three BMS-IMRT plans used the BM, OC, OC and LS respectively, as the BM OAR, namely as IMRT (BM), IMRT (OC) and IMRT (OC + LS) plans. Dose volumes for the target and the OARs were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results Compared with IMRT (N) plans, the dose to the small bowel, bladder, rectum and femoral heads showed no increase in the three BMS-IMRT plans. However, the irradiated dose to BM, OC and LS significantly decreased. In particular, the mean dose of BM, OC and LS decreased by about 5Gy (p

Two cases with similar brain imaging findings were reported. Both brain MRIs were characterized by abnormal signal intensities in thalamus, surrounding third ventricle, periaqueductal areas and posteromedial thalami. Through clinical observation and a series of auxiliary examinations, one patient was diagnosed as Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) and the other as neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Although WE and NMO are totally different diseases entity, but similar lesions area aroused hypothesis that potential correlations may exist between these two diseases. Astrocytes may be the target cells connecting these two diseases. Potential benefit of thiamine supplementary therapy is suggested for NMO treatment.

The gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea is a major postharvest disease of apple which seriously reduce the commercial value. This study was to evaluate the effectiveness of caffeic acid (CA) and epicatechin (E) on controlling gray mold of ‘Fuji’ apples (Malus domestica Borkh.) and explore its mechanism of action. Two treatment groups were injected with 10 μL CA (300 mg/L) and E (300 mg/L) respectively and distilled water was used as control, after half an hour, inoculated with B. cinerea conidial suspension. The decrease in the incidence and lesion diameters of apples by these two free phenols are shown. CA and E activated peroxidase, polyphenoloxidase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, cinnamic acid-4-hydroxylase and 4-coumaric acid-CoA ligase, and also increased the content of total phenols, flavonoids and lignin. CA-treated effectively promoted lignin accumulation, whereas E-treated significantly increased the accumulation of flavonoids. Therefore, these two free phenol treatments effectively inhibit gray mold infection of ‘Fuji’ apples by related effective activation of different branches of the phenylpropanoid metabolism pathway.

We propose to compare the hardware cost of OTN switching and IP switching to obtain the ballpark adaptation range for the two switching mode. By abstracting the switching behavior of OTN switching equipment and IP router, we present a detailed study on the hardware cost in the case of ensuring connectivity. A unified network-level connection model is established based on CLOS switching network, and then we compare hardware costs for IP switching and OTN switching. The hardware cost of the two switching mode in different L1 switching granularity and different port rate cases is simulated. Simulation results show that OTN switching has lower hardware cost than IP switching when average bandwidth for traffic demand excess 250Mbps in the cases of ODU 0 switching granularity.

Background To report our experience in planning and delivering total marrow irradiation (TMI) and total marrow and lymphatic irradiation (TMLI) in patients with hematologic malignancies. Methods Twenty-seven patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation were treated with TMI/TMLI using Helical Tomotherapy (HT). All skeletal bones exclusion of the mandible comprised the treatment target volume and, for TMLI, lymph node chains, liver, spleen and/or brain were also included according to the clinical indication. Planned dose of 8Gy in 2 fractions was delivered over 1 day for TMI while 10Gy in 2 fractions BID was used for TMLI. Organs at risk (OAR) contoured included the brain, brainstem, lens, eyes, optic nerves, parotids, oral cavity, lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, stomach, small bowel, bladder and rectum. In particular, a simple method to avoid hot or cold doses in the overlapping region was implemented and the plan sum was adopted to evaluate dose inhomogeneity. Furthermore, setup errors from 54 treatments were summarized to gauge the effectiveness of immobilization. Results During the TMI/TMLI treatment, no acute adverse effects occurred during the radiation treatment. Two patients suffered nausea or vomiting right after radiation course. For the 9 patients treated with TMI, the median dose reduction of major organs varied 30–65% of the prescribed dose, substantially lower than the traditional total body irradiation (TBI). Meanwhile, average biological equivalent doses to OARs with 8Gy/2F TMI approach were not different from the conventional 12Gy/6F TMI approach. In the dose junction region, the 93% of PTV was covered by the prescribed dose without obvious hotspots. For the 27 patients, the overall setup corrections were lower than 3 mm except those in the SI direction for abdomen-pelvis region, demonstrating excellent immobilization. Conclusion The present study confirmed the technical feasibility of HT-based TMI/TMLI delivering 8-10Gy in 2 fractions over 1 day. For patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation the proposed 8Gy/2F TMI (or 10Gy/2F TMLI) strategy may be a novel approach to improve delivery efficiency, increase effective radiation dose to target while maintaining low risk of severe organ toxicities.

As optical networks undergo rapid development, the trade-offs among higher network service capability, and increasing operating expense (OPEX) about operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) become telecom operators' key obstacles. Intelligent and automatic OAM is considered to effectively satisfy service requirements, while dampening OPEX growth. In particular, machine learning (ML) has been investigated as a possible method of replacing human image recognition, nature language processing, automatic drive, and so forth. This is because of its essential feature extraction ability. ML application in optical networks was studied in a preliminary way recently. In ML-enabled optical networks, huge data storage and powerful computing resources are required to handle computer-intensive tasks performed in order to analyze features from big data sets. Integration of these two key resources into existing optical network architectures, in order to improve network performance, is an emerging challenge for ML-enabled optical networks. This article proposes a novel optical network architecture, which is based on software-defined networking (SDN), which is also named self-optimizing optical networks (SOON). First, we comb through intelligence development of optical networks, and introduce SOON as an OAM-oriented optical network architecture. Second, we demonstrate four typical applications within SOON, including tidal traffic prediction, alarm prediction, anomaly action detection, and routing and wavelength assignment. Finally, we discuss some open issues.

Hexokinase-2 (HK2), the initial as well as the rate-limiting step in glycolysis, is overexpressed in many human cancers, and correlates with poor clinical outcomes. Aerobic glycolysis is a hallmark of cancer, and drugs targeting its enzymes, including HK2, are being developed. However, the mechanisms of HK2 inhibition and the physiological significance of the HK2 inhibitors in cancer cells are rarely reported . Here, we show that microRNA-216a-5p (miR-216a-5p) inhibits HK2 expression by directly targeting its 3′-UTR in uveal melanoma cells. Through inhibition of HK2, miR-216a-5p dampens glycolysis by reducing HK activity, glucose uptake, lactate production, ATP generation, extracellular acidification rate (ECAR), and increasing oxygen consumption rate (OCR) in uveal melanoma cells. Importantly, glycolysis regulated by miR-216a-5p is critical for its regulating uveal melanoma tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo. miR-216a-5p expression is negatively correlated with HK2 expression and predicts better outcome in uveal melanoma patients. Our findings provide clues regarding the role of miR-216a-5p as a tumor suppressor in uveal melanoma through the inhibition of HK2. Targeting HK2 through miR-216a-5p could be a promising therapeutic strategy in uveal melanoma.

To describe the clinical characteristics of a Chinese family with peripheral cone dystrophy (PCD) and identify the gene mutations causing PCD.The Chinese PCD pedigree underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examinations, including visual acuity, slit lamp examination, fundoscopy, visual field examination, autofluorescence, fluorescence fundus angiography and indocyanine green angiography, full-field electroretinograms, and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. The targeted next-generation sequencing of COD or cone-rod dystrophy (CORD) genes was used to identify the causative mutation.The fundus characteristics of the Chinese patient were consistent with PCD. The novel compound heterozygous mutation, c.1354CT and c.710AG, in POC1B was identified in the patient, the mutations were segregated with the PCD phenotype in the family and were absent from ethnically matched control chromosomes. Prediction analysis demonstrated the novel missense mutation, POC1B c.710AG, might be damaging.PCD was a type of COD or CORD and the novel compound heterozygous mutation in POC1B was responsible for PCD phenotype in the family.

This paper compares the application of the Weibull distribution and the Crow-AMSAA (C-A) model to the analysis of cable joint failures. The procedures on how to use the two models to analyze failure data and to predict the future number of failures have been described before the models are applied to a set of early failure data. The data, which include 16 failures and 1126 suspensions, were collected from a regional power-supply company in China. This paper proves that the Weibull distribution provides more reliable results in the analysis of early-failure data since it considers the time to failure of each event. Whilst the method is more straightforward and requires less information, applying the C-A model can yield confusing results if not handled carefully. When analyzing the events, using time as x-axis and using the cable joint population as an axis can complement each other. Separating those data into subsections and analyzing them independently can yield useful information. Recent failure data can better reflect the current state of cable joints. The results of this paper should help utility asset managers better analyze their past failure events.

In recent years, increasing attention has been devoted to X-ray phase contrast imaging, since it can provide high-contrast images by using phase variations. Among the different existing techniques, Zernike phase contrast microscopy is one of the most popular phase-sensitive techniques for investigating the fine structure of the sample at high spatial resolution. In X-ray Zernike phase contrast microscopy, the image contrast is indeed a mixture of absorption and phase contrast. Therefore, this technique just provides qualitative information on the object, which makes the interpretation of the image difficult. In this contribution, an approach is proposed for quantitative phase retrieval in X-ray Zernike phase contrast microscopy. By shifting the phase of the direct light by π/2 and 3π/2, two images of the same object are measured successively. The phase information of the object can then be quantitatively retrieved by a proper combination of the measured images. Numerical experiments were carried out and the results confirmed the feasibility of the proposed method. It is expected that the proposed method will find widespread applications in biology, materials science and so on.

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of the implantation of MICOF keratoprosthesis (Kpro) in patients with alkaline, acid and thermal ocular burns. Methods This is a retrospective, non-competitive, interventional case series. Ninety eyes of 90 patients with ocular burns underwent MICOF KPro surgery at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital between April 2000 and December 2012. Preoperative and postoperative findings were recorded. Retention of the prostheses and the treatment for postoperative complications were investigated. Results The mean age of patients was 40.26±12.18 years (range: 8–64 years), and the mean duration after ocular trauma was 4.8±6.2 years (range: 1.5–12 years). The mean follow-up period was 58.22±36.28 months (range: 1–145 months). Eighty patients were followed for ≥1 year and 73 eyes (81.11%) achieved the best-corrected visual acuity of 20/200 or better and 39 eyes (43.33%) achieved best-corrected visual acuity of ≥20/40. The common complications were glaucoma, corneal melt and conjunctiva overgrowth, and the incidences of these complications were 59.99%, 40% and 31.11%, respectively. One patient experienced KPro extrusion, and two patients exhibited leakage from the area of the implant. Seven with endophthalmitis eyes had final visual acuities of light perception. There was no significant difference in the effectiveness of the implants among the different causes of injuries, including acid, alkali and thermal burns. Conclusions MICOF Kpro is an effective alternative for patients with ocular burn with corneal blindness. Glaucoma and endophthalmitis were identified as significant risk factors for visual loss.

Purpose To evaluate the biomechanical properties of the cornea using Corneal Visualization Scheimpflug Technology (CorVis ST, Oculus) in eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and normal control eyes. Methods A comparative cross-sectional study that included 42 patients with POAG and 60 normal control subjects matched for intraocular pressure (IOP) and central corneal thickness (CCT). IOP was measured with a Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT). Corneal tomography and biomechanical parameters were measured with Pentacam (Oculus) and CorVis ST, respectively. Corneal biomechanical properties were compared between groups, and the associations between corneal biomechanical parameters and ocular characteristics were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to establish a cut-off value for the biomechanical parameters. Results The following parameters of the CorVis ST showed a significant difference between eyes with POAG and normal eyes: first applanation velocity (Vin), second applanation time (A-time2), peak distance (PD) and deformation amplitude (DA). In the univariate analysis, DA was negatively correlated with IOP in both groups. For all biomechanical parameters, the areas under the ROC curve were

Purpose: Grating-based x-ray phase contrast imaging is considered as one of the most promising techniques for future medical imaging. Many different methods have been developed to retrieve phase signal, among which the phase stepping (PS) method is widely used. However, further practical implementations are hindered, due to its complex scanning mode and high radiation dose. In contrast, the reverse projection (RP) method is a novel fast and low dose extraction approach. In this contribution, the authors present a quantitative analysis of the noise properties of the refraction signals retrieved by the two methods and compare their sensitivities. Methods: Using the error propagation formula, the authors analyze theoretically the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the refraction images retrieved by the two methods. Then, the sensitivities of the two extraction methods are compared under an identical exposure dose. Numerical experiments are performed to validate the theoretical results and provide some quantitative insight. Results: The SNRs of the two methods are both dependent on the system parameters, but in different ways. Comparison between their sensitivities reveals that for the refraction signal, the RP method possesses a higher sensitivity, especially in the case of high visibility and/or at the edge of the object. Conclusions: Compared with the PS method, the RP method has a superior sensitivity and provides refraction images with a higher SNR. Therefore, one can obtain highly sensitive refraction images in grating-based phase contrast imaging. This is very important for future preclinical and clinical implementations. (C) 2015 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.